Block Programing

What’s up everyone, hope you have all been crushing the workouts. Remember you’re either the hunter or the hunted, make the right choice! Sorry for the delay on posting but it has been an absolute zoo at the gym. Early mornings and late nights, also I have picked up a new hobby in reading so the little free time I have had, I’ve been reading about Soviet Strength Training. Who would’ve thought how much you can actually learn from reading? Let’s move onto the topic of today’s post…block programming. A very common question I am asked by members at the gym, is what they should perform first, Cardio or Weight Training. My typical response is to begin asking the members many different questions about what exactly they are trying to accomplish in the gym, as well as what type of training split they use. The most basic answer I will tell these members is simply start with whatever you are trying to improve the most at. If you want to bring your cardio up then begin with the cardio then move on to the weights and vice versa. The reason behind this is very simple; you will have the most energy in your tank at the beginning of your workout and the least at the end. So if you drain your energy storage doing 30 min of intervals on the treadmill the chances of getting the most out of you weight training is not very good.
The way I have been doing my personal workouts it utilizing block programming. What block programming does it breaks your workout into different sections throughout the day. For instance, today at the gym I had 90 min between my last two clients in the morning. This was a perfect opportunity for me to hit my Max Effort Upper body workout. Being at the gym working all day long, a lot of times when trying to work out you end up getting sucked into answering questions, helping out members, etc. Nothing pisses me off more then having a workout ruined twenty minutes deep because some random member can’t take a hint that I am not working but training! This has led to me having very little motivation to workout at the gym I work at.
As I was finishing my warm up, my last client of the morning called me and had to reschedule the session for a later time. Although it is always disappointing when a client reschedules an appointment it happened all the time and I have gotten used to it. So as I began my workout I was not feeling it one bit (which seems to be the case most workouts at my gym) so I decided to make a little change in my schedule. Instead of spending 45-60min hitting my entire upper body I would break the workout up into two portions, the first one to be completed at the gym and the second would be completed later tonight at my apartment. The workout this morning and tonight looked like this:
Morning Workout at gym:
Foam Roll
10 min Jump Rope
1a) 5x sub max mix grip pull ups
1b) 5x 15 dips
2) 4x10/10 Single Arm KB Snatch
3a) 3x12 Hanging Leg Raise
3b) 3x10 Power Wheel Roll Outs
3c) 3x15 Russian Twist
Foam Roll
Evening Workout at Home:
1) 5x 5Hand Stand Push Up
2) 15 min Bulgarian Bag Work
Foam Roll and Ice!!
Block Programming can be used in many different cases. The most popular reason for performing workouts this way is because of time restrictions. The oldest excuse in the book for not training is not having the time. Many people claim they do not have the extra 1-2 hours in the day to dedicate to working out. They claim by the time they get to the gym, workout, change/shower, they just took up over two hours of the day. As far as I am concerned this is no more then an excuse for not wanting to train. Don’t have enough time in the day? Wake up twenty minutes earlier and start your day with some jump rope, squats, lunges, and pushups. Instead of winding down sitting watching television eating ice cream later that night try doing some Kettlebell exercises, Pull Ups, ,ring work, or even some sprints or jumps. Remember there is more then enough time in the day to fit your training into that busy schedule of yours.
A major concern people have with this block programming is they do not feel doing 2- 30 min sessions each day is enough. Also “Where do I fit my cardio into the program?” The beauty with block programming is having the ability to work at a much higher intensity and faster pace then if you were spending multiple hours at the gym. The above workout I performed today was not as much strength work as I was hoping but I utilized both blocks as more metabolic resistance training, thus getting 2- 30 min cardio sessions in as well as hitting my entire upper body and core! Some days I will spend one block doing strength work and the second for cardio and other days will be more like today, where it was almost all cardio endurance. I prefer to perform 1 strength block and 1 endurance block each day but some days you gotta just roll with the punches.


Me banging out 1 of my 5 sets of 5 on handstand pushups